The factions within the parties who bring neither money nor power to the party, such as free-market and pro-peace groups, slavishly vote again and again for the party, naively convincing themselves that the party will do something for them if they can just win one more election.

Those who benefit most from this management of factions and interest groups are the parties themselves, since electoral victories bring with them jobs, power, and many financial rewards … while the other groups within the coalition are told they should just be happy that the other party didn't win.

Ron Paul's appeal and his early primary success seems to baffle both mainstream pundits and the party-devoted alike. Trying to figure it out, Robert Stacy McCain asks:
How is it, for example, that a 76-year-old with a reedy voice — his appearance and manner not remotely "presidential" by the usual standards of the TV age — is an idol to so many youth?

Neoconservative strategist Karl Rove declared: "A Big Win for Romney in Iowa!" Funny, because during the week's leading up to this year's Iowa Caucus, Establishment surrogates like Rove were busy telling us how much Iowa doesn't matter.

Yet now they want to persuade us that Romney's the nominee because he squeaked by with barely 25% of the vote? And people still take their advice seriously?